Pig heart transplants in humans show signs of success
New research in which doctors transplanted genetically modified pig hearts into people who were clinically dead could pave the way for human trials and a
New research in which doctors transplanted genetically modified pig hearts into people who were clinically dead could pave the way for human trials and a future with more organ transplants that can prolong lives.
In the past month, researchers at NYU Langone Health transplanted pig hearts into two people who had recently suffered catastrophic heart failure and were left brain dead but remained on life support.
In both cases, the new hearts beat strongly and were not immediately rejected by the host bodies. The hearts continued to function well until the conclusion of the three-day experiment, doctors said.
“The heart was literally banging away. It was contracting completely normally,” Dr. Nader Moazami, a surgeon who was part of the transplant team, said of the moments after the heart restarted. “We learned a tremendous amount.”
Doctors at the University of Maryland last year implanted a pig heart into a living patient, but it failed after 49 days. The NYU research in subjects considered deceased is different because it allows researchers to rigorously test, refine treatments and collect detailed data without fear that experimentation will take a patient’s life.
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